This invention relates to an infant car bed for use in a vehicle and, more particularly to a car bed for protecting an infant from injury by absorbing the energy of an impact to the car bed.
Various car beds for use in vehicles have been proposed in the prior art which propose to protect an infant from injury in the event of a collision or rapid change in speed. Several U.S. patents propose means for pivoting the horizontal base of the car bed into a vertical position upon rapid deceleration indicative of a frontal collision to absorb inertial energy experienced by the infant. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,733 to Wetter, U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,946 to Von Wimmersperg, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,234 to Kelleher, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,004 to Friedman. The bed disclosed by Friedman further absorbs inertial energy through permanent deformation of the bed and shell. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,253 to Hall presents an inflatable tubular structure with straps for securing and protecting an infant.
Although assumably effective in operation, such known devices do not adequately protect an infant from side impacts or other invasive collisions. Existing car beds are not designed to withstand a direct impact by the bumper of another vehicle or with parts of the vehicle in which the bed is secured during a crushing impact. Further, such devices do not utilize a resilient construction which can withstand multiple direct impacts. A car bed capable of withstanding a direct vehicle side impact is particularly necessary since most infant car beds or seats are placed immediately adjacent a vehicle door for convenient access to the infant.
Thus, it is desirable to have a car bed for use in a vehicle which reduces the risk of serious bodily injury to an infant by absorbing the energy of a direct impact to the car bed. It is further desirable to have a car bed which may be secured to the seat of a vehicle with conventional seat belts.